‘Gremlins’ Reboot Might Happen, or Perhaps a Late Sequel Treatment

For the last couple years we've seen almost all of the classic horror films of the 1970's and 80's get the remake treatment. 'Gremlins' was one of the rare holdouts, but it looks like its defenses are failing as the latest rumors suggest we may get a new 'Gremlins' film.

Vulture is reporting that Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment is being approached yet again with the offer of doing a 'Gremlins'-something for the 21st century. And though this has come up before, Amblin seems more likely to do it this time. A decade or so ago this would have meant that original director Joe Dante would be offered the job, but that seems unlikely here (especially after the brilliant second film underperformed in theaters). What is more confusing is what this new project would be.

You could argue that 'Gremlins' is a horror movie (family friendly though it may be), so perhaps like the Michael Bay-produced remakes of late it could just be a straight remake. But it seems that the best way to keep fans happy is to make it part of the existing franchise, like they did with 'Tron: Legacy.' In that way, all you have to do is bring back original stars Zach Galligan or Phoebe Cates (or both) for a couple of scenes and everyone's happy.

If this does go forward expect the big sticking point for fans of the original to be the CG Gremlins, or expect a lot of press about how they went with practical puppets. And it probably will be 3D.